No Bake pumpkin cheesecake

I'll be the first to admit that a real baked custard cheesecake is far better than a no bake one that is not nearly as firm and doesn't have quite the same bite. This cheesecake recipe is really freakin good, and it only takes about 35 minutes start to finish time. And the best part is that your not having to wait three hours for it to cool to the proper temperature. Enjoy.

2 cups of ginger snaps
1/2 stick of butter, melted
2 8-ounce blocks of cream cheese
1 cup of pumpkin
2 1/2-ounce packages of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of lemon zest

Crush ginger snaps into crumbs. Toss with melted butter and press into a 9 x 13 or 10-inch round pan. In a mixer, combine cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and seasonings.
In a medium bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup of room-temperature water. Let stand for one minute; add 1/2 cup of boiling water and mix with a fork or whisk to combine.

Add gelatin mixture to pumpkin mixture. Mix on high for one minute. Pour pumpkin onto ginger snap crust and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Recipe serves 6-8.

Here's to boycotting canned cranberry sauce!!

I think one of my favorite fruits is the cranberry, and in my mind the worst thing you can do to that fabulous versatile fruit is cook it until it is no longer recognizable, cram in into a can and leave it there until you slid it out(can ridge imprints and all), slice it up and call it a side dish. Serving fresh made cranberry sauce takes little to no effort, it's so easy, and I promise once you've tried it you'll never go back to the canned stuff again. It's super simple and oh so yummy, good luck keeping it around long enough for it to make it to your thanksgiving table.


Cranberry Limeade Salad

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh lime zest
1 cup of toasted chopped pecans
1 can of Mandarin oranges
In a medium saucepan, heat cranberries and sugar on medium heat for five to seven minutes until the cranberries start to crack and bubble. Remove from heat and cool for 20 minutes.

Add drained oranges, chopped pecans and lime zest; toss and refrigerate for another 20 minutes.

Recipe serves 6.

It's so gouda!

So my sister Cheri and I made this recipe at my house this weekend. We're trying to teach her how to cook so that she can snag her a 10 if you know what I mean. Wink wink. Anyways it's so good, and it's really simple we made it start to finish in about 25 minutes. Be prepared to take a nap after you've eaten it however, this is food coma land kind of stuff. Enjoy.

Smoked gouda and Kielbasa Mac n cheese.

4 cups of macaroni noodles
10 oz grated smoked gouda cheese(there is very little chance you will find this already grated, so you'll probably have to break out your box grater and your jar of elbow grease. Unless, like me you are lazy and well equiped, then just break out your food processor with the grating attachment and let it do all of the work for you.)
8 oz grated mild cheddar
3 cups milk
1 8 oz stick of butter
6 oz flour
2 tsp tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 12 oz kielbasa sausage cut into coins

Go ahead and boil you noodles first. I like to get this out of the way so I don't get distracted and overcook my pasta. There is no going back once you've made soggy sticky pasta. Also if you'll add about a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt to your water, the salt will make you water boil faster and the oil will keep your pasta from sticking together. Once you've got your pasta cooked drain it and rinse it with cool water until the pasta is completely cooled. This stops the cooking process(again, nobody likes soggy pasta). In a medium sauce pan melt your butter. Once the butter is melted add the flour and cook for about one minute. Congratulations you have just made a roux! Now add you milk. Keep stirring it until it starts to get good and thick. Then add your grated cheeses and stir until they melt and incorporate. Add your tabasco and your salt and pepper. It's important at this point to taste it and make sure it's got all the flavor you want it to have. If you need to add any more salt, pepper, tabasco or cheese go ahead. Once your sauce is done transfer it and your pasta into a large bowl. Now take your kielbasa sausgae and saute it until it starts to get brown and crispy around the edges. Add the kielbasa and pan drippings to the bowl with the mac in it and toss to combine all ingredients. Now if you are impatient at this point you can just go ahead and eat it, but if you want to make it look and taste even better put it in a cassarole dish and top it with shredded cheese and breadcrumbs and toss it in a 400 degree oven for 5-7 minutes. Either way it's so gouda!

That's right I said Home made marshmellows

I like a good marshmellow every now and then, especially when I am camping or we light up the fire pit in the backyard. Marshemellows are, however, my husbands drug of choice. He is one of the three people in this world who actually really like marshmellow peeps, so when we discovered this recipe I thought his head was going to explode. They are actually really cool, you can flavor them and shape them however you want. Also when you take a torch to these(yes I keep a torch in my kitchen) they get this awesome hard toffee shell to them. Mmmmm sticky marshmellows.



3 envelopes of unflavored Knox gelatin
1/2 cup of cold water
2 cups of granulated sugar
2/3 cups of corn syrup
1/4 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar for dredging
In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of cold water. Soak for 10 minutes.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix with whisk attachment at high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. Add vanilla and incorporate into mixture.

Scrape into a 9 inch by 9 inch pan lined with oiled plastic wrap and spread evenly. Lightly oil hands and spatula or bowl scraper for ease. After pouring marshmallow mixture into the pan, take another piece of plastic wrap and press mixture into the pan.

Let mixture sit for a few hours. Remove from pan, dredge the marshmallow slab with confectioners’ sugar and cut into pieces with scissors or a chef’s knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners’ sugar and enjoy!

The ultimate chocolate covered strawberries.

I love chocolate covered strawberries, but these are like the Louis Vuitton of Chocolate covered strawberries(I also love Louis Viutton). I made them for my Dad and Husband for fathers day, and they loved them. Even my father in law who hates cheesecake (which these are filled with) loved them. If you want to replace the chocolate with white chocolate or use another kind of nut, or even toffee or coconut, then feel free. Good luck not eating them before they set up.


8-10 large strawberries
16 ounces of milk chocolate chips
8 ounces of ready made cheesecake filling
4 tablespoons of chopped pecans
Cut the top off the strawberries and remove their cores. Using a pastry bag or seal able plastic bag, fill the strawberries with cheesecake filling.

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, cooking in 30-second increments, stirring in between. Dip the top half of each strawberry in the chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Recipe serves six.

Mini Fresh Peach crumb cakes. Yum!!!

I love fresh peaches... and I really love baked goods. A trait which is apparently is somewhat genetic. I thought my daughters head was going to explode because I couldn't get MY cheesecake into her mouth fast enough at brunch the other day. Anywho, this recipe is really good and super easy. I made it as the TV station last week, and my camera man as well as a couple of reporters were eating them straight out the oven. I'd like to personally apologize for any esophegial burns that these tempting little cakes will cause when you can wait for them to cool before you eat them. Enjoy

1 box of yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup of water
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
4 fresh peaches, sliced


Combine cake mix with eggs, water and vegetable oil. Using your hands, combine butter, both sugars and the flour until it comes to a crumbly consistency.
Portion about a quarter cup of batter into greased or cupcake paper lined muffin tin. Arrange slices of fresh peach on top of batter and top with 2 tablespoons of crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick stuck into center of cupcake comes out clean. Recipe serves eight to ten.

The ultimate sandwich for the Man's Man.

OK so I was trying to come up with something for KY3 last week. And while I was sitting in bed with my netbook on my lap watching the opening theme song for Two and a Half Men I thought to myself, "I ought to make like the ultimate Mans Man of a sandwich." I did, and let me tell ya while I was at the studio making the Sandwich that we'd show as the finished product at the end of the cooking segment, I'm pretty sure every Man that does or ever has worked at that TV station started coming out of the woodwork. Many of them looked a little leery, as though they had not set foot out of their cubicle or out of a dark viewing room in about a year. I always try and make sure that my camera man gets to try whatever I happen to be making that week so I made a sandwich for him and not only did he thoroughly enjoy it, but he made it a point to show every guy that walked through that room what he was eating and they weren't. It was pretty funny. So long story short if you have a Man's Man hanging around, or really just any kind of man who likes food in general this ones a winner. Enjoy!


4 6-ounce rib eye steaks
1 large green bell pepper, sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 loaf of wide French bread, cut into four even pieces
1 cup of shredded Swiss or mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of pepper
4 teaspoons of granulated garlic
In a medium saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add onion and bell pepper; toss until onions and pepper becomes soft. Set aside until mixture reaches room temperature.

Cut a cavity into each steak, cutting a slit into the side about 2/3 of the way through the steak, about 3 inches wide, making a pocket for stuffing. Stuff each steak with sauteed peppers, onions and shredded cheese. Secure with toothpicks.

Combine seasonings and sprinkle mixture liberally onto each steak. Place onto hot grill or preheated saute pan.

Cut each 1/4 of bread loaf in half length wise. Spread butter onto the inside of the bread and place open side down onto hot grill or saute pan for about 30 seconds to toast.

When steak is cooked to desired temperature, remove from grill and place on bread immediately. Serve with side salad or fries.

Recipe serves four.

Artisan Bread

I made two good size loaves... and one of them is pretty much gone. Here it is complete with probably too many pictures. Best of luck, and let me know how it works out for you.

Artisan Bread

Start out with about three cups of very warm water. You want it about 90 degrees. Pour it into a medium or large bowl. I like to use ceramic bowls, it keeps the warmth in well but you can use whatever you have and it will work. Immediately add 4 Tbsp of active dry yeast. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and set it in a warm place. I turn my oven onto 400 degrees and set my bowl onto the stove top, but make sure your stove top doesn't get too hot(if it hurts to touch it, it too hot).


Let it stand for about five minutes until the yeast starts to foam a little and has a strong smell. Add 4 cups of all purpose flour and wisk together. If should be about the consistancy of cake batter. Cover bake up and let stand again until it almost doubles in size.

Remove cover and add three more cups of flour, you can combine this with a wooden spoon, or just go ahead and get dirty and use your hands. Once it is mostly combined empty the dough onto a floured cutting board or counter top. Fold the dough over until it is no longer sticky. Depending on where you live(humidity) you may need to slowly add more flour.

Cover and let rise about ten minutes. Cut the dough into two even pieces. If you have a loaf pan you can place your dough into two pans. If like me you are too cheap to go out and buy loaf pans, you can form your own loaves. This is where the creative part comes in. You can either make these into rounds, long french loaves or you can go crazy and braid the dough. Place your loaves onto a large greased sheet tray. If you want to make it look nifty take a very sharp knife and and make a few cuts along the top of your loaves, you'll see why it's cool after it's proofed.

Cover your loaves let them raise for 10 minutes and then place them in a preheated 400 degree oven. If you like your bread soft, just let in bake for thirty minutes. If you like your bread crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside bake for thirty minutes, but using a spray bottle spray about five squirts of water into the oven every ten minutes or so. Remove from oven and immediately take off of the sheet pan and place on a cooling rack or cutting board. Don't bother waiting til it cools to eat it. It's really really good hot. Let me know what you think.

To bread or not to bread.

I was tragically born without a taste for bread... or so I thought. It took me getting pregnant and having really crazy cravings(I say crazy, but for every other sane person in the world craving a sandwich on store bought bread is really not that nuts)for me to find out that I don't hate bread! I just hate the way the majority of this country produces and eats bread. I have discovered that there is not much better than a good slice of bread where the crust is so hard and flaky that it floats all kind of crumbs all over yourself (wouldn't recommend wearing any kind of low cut shirt while eating this kind of bread, unless you like crumbs in your bra) and the inside is chewy and dense. Pretty much every store I go to you squeeze the bread and it leaves a horrible indention like you just mangled a clump of play dough. So because I cannot buy such bread I've decided to go ahead and make it myself. There have been several go arounds and some of it has not turned out that great and therefore become puppy treats(sorry guys), but after a couple trys a bit of googling(is there a right way to spell that?) I've come to my very happy conclusion. Next blog... How to make awesome bread that costs next to nothing and doesn't get stuck to the room of your mouth like old gum. OK so I'll come up with a shorter title, but you get the gist.

Strawberry Cream Bread Pudding

Agriculturists predict that this years strawberry crops will be better and more abundant than they have been in a decade. Prices in the grocery store are super low and the actual fruit is really very good. This recipe marries one of my favorite desserts(Berries and Cream) with one of Chris' favorites (Bread Pudding.) It's a nod to the kind of desserts that Grandma used to make with a bit of a twist. If you have trouble finding the soft serve mix, you can either try going to your local ice cream shop and ask if they'll sell you some. Or you can just let some vanilla ice cream that you get from your grocer melt. This recipe is great served hot or cold. It's great for brunch, or a picnic. Try it out and let me know what you think.



10 slices of white bread, cut into cubes
1 cup of sliced strawberries
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
6 eggs
3/4 cup of white sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of liquid vanilla soft serve mix
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a medium baking dish. Spread out cut bread onto dish.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, eggs, soft serve, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and vanilla extract. Stir well.

Spread sliced strawberries over cut bread. Pour mixture over the bread and strawberries and let set for 20 minutes, so bread can absorb the liquid.

Place in preheated oven and cook for about 30 minutes, or until dish is firm throughout.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Recipe serves 8.

Strawberry Cream Bread Pudding.

Calling all would be cooks!

I was reading some of the top ten food trends for the year 2010, and somewhat shockingly number two is cooking at home from scratch. Growing up my mom always cooked from scratch, but then again my mom was the type who would haggle at the grocery store if she saw the opportunity. The more I get out there and talk to people the more I hear "Oh I don't cook," or as Sara Jessica Parker said "I use my oven to store sweaters, what do I need a kitchen for." Cooking at home, particularly from scratch, is now viewed as far to tedious in our text messaging, everything portable, go go go society. Being a chef and knowing how to cook is now considered a somewhat rare skill and very trendy. Need proof? Turn on your TV. The food network is one of the most highly watched channels out there. Everybody's got a favorite celebrity chef, and the theres the one who's isms drive them up the wall(Yum-O). So here is my challenge. Plan a dinner party. It can just be for your family, roommates or whoever you feel comfortable experimenting your food on. Don't make the menu too complicated. Go to the grocery store and pick out some ingredients you've never worked with but always wanted to try. If you need to find out how to cook them, I am happy to offer any advice. Or if you are more of an instant answer person(guilty) Google hasn't failed me yet. Try it out and make it fun. Make it interactive if you're not entirely convinced in your own mad skills. Do a kebab bar, or some fondue. I hope and think you'll find out that cooking and sharing it with people you like spending time with is the best. After you've tried it get on and let me know how it worked out for you, and I'll do the same. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Beef Sopes

Chris and I first had this at a little restaurant in Branson MO. It was pretty good at the restaurant. However, being two self proclaimed foodies we get a little too much joy out of disecting recipes putting our spin on it putting it back together. Most of the time it turns out really well. Sometimes it takes a few tries though. Corn Masa (the base for the sopes) is a really fun ingredient to work with, but it took us a few tries to get it right. Basically when you mix the water and oil with the masa you need to mix it either by hand or with a fork (overmixing them can make them a bit chewy) and when your done mixing the dough it needs to be close to the consitancy of play dough, bound together but cracks a little around the edges when you smash it flat. This dish is awesome, and can be used as an entree or an appetizer. It works great for outdoor parties too. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

1 cup corn meal masa
1/2 cup + 1 cup water
3 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp pepper
1 onion chopped
1 jalapeno finely diced
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese (if they have cojita at your grocer use it, but don't run all over town looking for it, kraft mexican blend works just fine)
sour cream
2 cups vegetable oil
1 small can whole stewed tomatoes
2 lbs chuck roast
2 Tbsp olive oil

In a medium stock pot on medium high heat soften chopped onions with olive oil. Once onions begin to become transluscent add chuck roast. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp cumin, 1/2 Tbsp salt and 1 Tbsp pepper. Brown on each side.

Add can of tomatoes and 2 cups water. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for three hours.

Combine masa, 1/2 cup water, remaining cumin, salt and pepper. Stir until all is well incorporated. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Form into golfball sized pieces. Flatten with your palms and Pan fry in vegetable oil until golden brown on each side.

Once meat is finished, shred. Top masa disks with shredded meat, lettuce, cheese and sour cream.

Recipe serves eight.

Summertime is almost here.

Summertime is almost here and it's time to get out and start using the grill again. This is one of my favorite recipes to grill and it's a big wow for having guests over. The reason it is called margherita pizza is because Chef Rafaelle Esposito originally made it for queen Margherita of Italy in 1889. At the time the flatbread topped with cheese and whatever else they happened to have around was considered peasents food, but the queen liked it so much and ate it so often that the chef named the pizza after her and it is still called Margherita pizza to this day. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Grilled Margherita Pizza

1 pizza crust (rolled out and brushed with olive oil)
1 large tomato slice
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of dried basil
Place crust and tomatoes on grill. Cook crust until crisp on one side; flip and brush other side with olive oil. Place grilled tomatoes on crust, top with cheeses, and sprinkle entire pizza with basil.

Cook until crust is crispy and cheeses are melted. Cut into wedges.

Serves 4-6